


You Are You

by KizaKurosaki15



Series: TerraVan Series [7]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Romance, Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-21
Updated: 2019-03-21
Packaged: 2019-11-27 04:01:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18189506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KizaKurosaki15/pseuds/KizaKurosaki15
Summary: Vanitas was Vanitas. No one else. It was just hard for others to remember that from time to time.





	You Are You

Vanitas had taken to leaving his helmet off. It had started about a year into him being with the Guardians of Light. With Sora gone it wasn't weird to see Riku, and Kairi looking at Vanitas with a look of longing and sadness. It also wasn't strange to see Kairi often times sitting with him chatting away. Even if she did most of the talking. For a while, it was all fine, he had stopped wearing his helmet and he was more friendly. However, recently Terra started to notice tension in Vanitas. He had started to notice he was eating lighter foods in smaller amounts, he wasn't sleeping as peacefully as he usually did. Terra couldn't fathom why this was happening.

He had asked the raven what was going on, but Vanitas only gave him a tired smile and gave him a soft nuzzle to his face before he always told him that he was fine, he would be okay. Terra would have believed him if he hadn't noticed all of this started happening the more time he spent with Kairi. Terra thought maybe he just wasn't used to being so close to a Princess of Heart; but there was just something about it that didn't feel quite right. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he knew it was more then what he let on.

"Your worried about him." Isa pointed out as he and Terra worked on opening up crates of supplies Lea, Riku, and Roxas had brought back. Terra gave the blue haired male a shocked look before a look of concern took over his features. He looked over to where Vanitas was standing with Kairi. Both standing by one of the cliff edges here in the Land Of Departure, while Kairi looked bittersweet, Vanitas looked tense, angry even, it sparked worry in him. "He's been rather agitated as of late. Has he given you a reason as to why? Or has he kept that to himself so far?"

"As of now, he hasn't told me anything. Said I shouldn't worry, that he's fine." He begrudgingly admitted with a heavy sigh before pulling the top if a wooden crate open. "I don't know, i want to know what's wrong, but I don't want to force him or push too much because he'll shut me out."

Isa nodded in understanding as he took a moment to look over at Lea who now had snatched up Xion and Naminé, playfully threatening to toss them into the small pond Terra and Riku had recently made. It hadn't been filled with fish yet, but it definitely had water. "Lea can be like that from time to time. I think he looks back on Axel's and Saïx's time with the organization. He gets a look that's between haunted, angry to sad, and bittersweet. Maybe he fears I will feel what Saïx felt. But he never tells me." The blue haired male chuckled softly. "He always tells me not to worry, that it's something for him to deal with...Axel and Lea weren't very different at all. Expect maybe in the aspect of doing all the 'icky jobs' as Lea and Axel put it."

"Do...do you ever get him to tell you anything?"

"Sometimes. But most of the time he just tells me not to worry. He comes to me when he gets overwhelmed or wants reassurance that I still love him as much as I did when we were idiot teenagers who thought we knew everything about the world."

Terra smiled at that. Isa and Lea were always so open about the love they felt for each other. They didn't have any shame in holding hands in front of others, giving kisses on the cheek, nose or lips in front of crowds and it was never unusual for either of them to randomly tell the other that they loved them, or randomly bring them their favorite flowers. With himself and Vanitas, that was different. Vanitas was more closed off, shy. He found it hard to be so openly vulnerable in front of so many people, so Terra never pushed his luck. It didn't stop him from giving the raven the occasional random hug or kiss on top of his head. And he knew Vanitas appreciated it because no less then a few moments later a pastel pinkish red Hareraiser would scamper over to him and demand to be carried and petted. Vanitas usually always complained and tried to stomp the poor things out of existence, but Terra moved quickly and would already have the small Unversed in his arms, cooing at it. And yes, he was fully aware Vanitas could faintly feel the hugs and pets Terra would give the little monster.

So, much like Lea and Isa who had their own way of showing their love for each other, Terra and Vanitas had their own way. One of those said ways was Vanitas taking his helmet off for the first time ever in front of Terra and then proceeding to leave it off for extended amounts of time when they were alone. Though he would put it back on when others would show up. Slowly, he started to leaving it off for longer and longer periods of time when others were around until eventually he stopped wearing it all together. The brunette couldn't have been more proud of him, same with Ventus who had expressed his feelings on it to the raven multiple times and each time Terra would catch a glimpse of round, slightly fat, fuzzy, pastel purple floods appearing at the words of praise from Ventus.

It seemed slowly but surely Vanitas was starting to get along with the others. And Terra couldn't have asked for anything else. Though, part of him wished that-

"I AM NOT SORA!"

The sudden rage filled shout came out of nowhere causing Isa to nearly drop the heavy crate he had if Terra had not been quick enough to reach over and steady it. The two men looked at each other for a split second before turning to look over where Vanitas was standing with Kairi. The red headed girl had taken several steps away from the raven who now had a miasma of darkness surrounding him, several dark blueish purple floods skittering around his feet in a agitated manner, but never once got close to Kairi. Looking around, he could see the other's standing frozen, some looking fearful, Riku and Aqua looking ready to rush to Kairi's protection. But Terra knew better, Vanitas didn't want to hurt her, he wouldn't hurt her. He watched as the said raven had his head hanging low, fists clenched so tightly his knuckles were white and his hands shook.

"I. Am. NOT. Sora." He repeated, his voice tight, as he slowly lifted his head to glare at the red haired female who had a look of hurt on her face. "I am NOT him. I am me. I GET IT. You miss him, you cared about him- but I am not him. So stop looking at me like that! I don't want to be compared to him or ANYONE anymore."

"I- Vanitas I never wanted you to feel that way-"

"WELL LOOK HOW WELL THATS BEEN GOING!"

"Back off, Vanitas!" Riku shouted as he came to stand in front of his friend, Terra was instantly at the raven's side, this seemed to shock Kairi and Vanitas both. "Calm down, you don't need to snap at her-"

"Riku, Terra please stop. Let us talk." Kairi said placing her hand on the silver haired male's shoulder and pushing him out of the way, and Vanitas doing the same to the tall brunette. Kairi sighed, taking a breath and calming down as she kneeled down and picked up one of the Unversed that skittered by. She carefully held the creature of darkness in her arms, hugging it gently. It was easy to tell that Vanitas felt it as his shoulders tensed for a moment before they slowly relaxed. "You're right. You aren't Sora. And I am so sorry that I've been making you feel that way. I had never meant for our time together to make you feel that way."

Vanitas shook his head, suddenly looking dejected, the wisps of darkness slowly faded away as his hands slowly unclenched and slowly began to stop shaking. The Unversed at his feet clearly becoming less agitated as well. "It's...it's not your fault. I mean, I look EXACTLY like him...from shoulder to elbow, and from elbow to wrist." He golden eyed male explained as he brought a hand up to his face, his fingers running down from his hairline, down over his left eye, his nose, lips and chin. He gave a airy chuckle and shake of his head. "I'm physically exactly like him, just a different color pallet." He said with a forced laugh which got a small sympathetic smile from Kairi. He shook his head again for a moment, going silent and mulling over his next words. "When you all look at me, you see him. And you can't help but feel a certain way."

"But that's no excuse for us- for me- to make you feel like you aren't you." She argued, running her hand down the Flood's back which got a long gurgling purr of content out of the creature. Vanitas huffed at her.

"It's not, your right. But it's understandable as to /why/ it happened." He countered rather easily. Both went silent now, merely looking anywhere but at each other. Eventually Vanitas sighed and looked at the red headed female. "Riku loved- loves- him...so when he looks at me, he sees the one he loved who is missing. When you look at me, you see someone who helped give you confidence and did everything he could to save you. You both look at me like I was the one who-" he paused, biting his lip and glancing off to Terra. "like- like Im Sora. Like I'm dead...I don't want to be Sora, I can't replace him."

"I know you can't. And I don't want you to." She said, following his gaze. She couldn't help but smile and look back at the raven. "You love him, don't you?" She asked suddenly, which caused the raven to blush darkly, the flood in her arms instantly bursting into a plume of smoke and several of the pastel purple, slightly fat, fuzzy Floods to appear around his feet. This made the red head laugh and place a hand on his elbow. "I'm sorry- oh God there is so many-" she said between fits of giggles.

Terra and many of the others relaxed at the sound of her laughter. Clearly the two were able to work out the tension they was between them without anyone else interfering. The brunette couldn't help but smile as he crossed his arms over his chest and watched as Kairi laughed and for whatever reason, Vanitas was as red as a tomato, the pastel purple Floods sat at his feet and a few at Kairi's. "Well, that worked out."

"Yeah...Kairi and I owe Vanitas an apology. We didn't want him to think we were trying to replace Sora with him or compare him to him." The Keyblade Master said, Terra shrugged as he watched Vanitas rub the back of his head shyly and sheepishly before giving her a small smile. One that rarely graced his features in front of others, but it was by far one of his most beautiful expressions.

"Yeah. But he understands. But for now, its best to give him space." Terra pointed out, he smiled and uncrossed his arms as he watched Vanitas walk up to him, instantly pressing himself against his chest. He didn't hesitate for a moment before he wrapped his arms around the smaller male, squeezing him as he pressed his face into the soft, dark colored locks that acted like his hair. He wasn't sure how long they stayed like that, Isa and Riku having had stepped away to give the pair space. But Terra didn't want to look up, didn't want to risk moving for the fear of braking this delicate trance that Vanitas seemed to be in that allowed the brunette to hold him this long in front of a crowd. He did however take a deep breath and exhaled slowly, he was temped to just turn the both of them around, using his own body to shield the raven from sight.

"I'm okay," Vanitas murmured, his head turned to the side so his cheek was resting against the other male's chest. His arms wrapped loosely around Terra's waist, eyes closed and body completely relaxed. "I didn't mean to snap at her it just happened."

"It's okay, no one blames you...it's not fun being compared to someone else. Especially considering, well, you know." Terra pulled away slightly, moving so both his hands were now cupping Vanitas' face, gently encouraging the smaller male to look up at him. He have the golden eyed male a reassuring smile, one which got a faint blush and smile in return. Looking down at the ground he couldn't help but laugh softly at the sight of the pastel colored Floods and Hareraisers bouncing around and away to the other Guardians of Light. "You know, they're still pretty cute,"

"I think you mean pretty damn annoying." Came the reply which Terra couldn't help but laugh loudly at. Vanitas rolled his eyes at the reaction but it didn't stop the fond smile from appearing either. When it came to Terra, Vanitas couldn't help but return the loving smiles, the stupid happy grins or even the full body laughter that escaped the man when something was truly funny to him. "I'm sorry," Vanitas said, leaning into the hands of the bigger Keyblade Wielder. "I should have talked to you about it when you asked. Maybe I wouldn't have snapped at her."

Terra shook his head, pressing their foreheads together, gently rubbing their noses together. "I think you still would have snapped at her, they miss him, and you look like him. With how...fresh those feelings are for them, it isn't a shock they were seeing and projecting Sora onto you. It isn't and wasn't okay, but you understand what it happened. And clearly Kairi and Riku hadn't meant to do that." Terra explained, pressing a quick kiss to his lips, this won him a soft purr from the golden eyed male. "I never want you to feel like I'm forcing you to talk to me when something is wrong or when your having an issue. But I do want you to know that I am always, always here for you. Okay?"

Vanitas nodded, placing his hands over Terra's. "Even if I'm not Sora?" He asked, it was a stupid question, he knew that. But it was because of Sora that he, Aqua and Ventus were back safe and sound. Sora was a special person, it was him to fixed all of their broken mistakes, it was him who had done everything he could to save them and it was him who made that sacrifice to bring Kairi back. He heard Terra chuckle softly before he felt the other give him another short but sweet kiss.

"I wouldn't want Sora. I want you, Vanitas. No one else." At that, Terra got a loud, rumbling purr from the smaller male. He chuckled softly, moving his hands from Vanitas' face and wrapping his arms around his waist, squeezing him tightly before loosening his hold after the got a grunt from the golden eyed male. "Help me with all of this stuff?" He asked, motioning to the crates of supplies. He watched as Vanitas pulled away and nodded as he moved to start pulling things out of the wooden crates. "Hey, Vanitas,"

"Hm?"

"I love you." Terra grinned at the redness that washed over thr pale skinned male's face. He couldn't help but laugh as the raven spluttered. His laughs only increasing as several pastel colored Jellyshades poofed into existence around him. He glared up at the bobbing Unversed as the floated around him. The brunette watched in amusement as the raven swatted at the Unversed that just easily floated away from his reach, spreading out to the other Guardians of Light. The girls seeming to awe at the sight of such cute looking monsters while some of the boys in their group took to gently poking them to watch them float away in a peaceful and graceful manner. "I love you, and only you. Just the way you are, Vanitas."

Even though the raven never said those words back, and even if he got a punch in the shoulder. The pastel Jellyshades and the brightly colored archravens that clustered around him where all he needed to know that Vanitas felt the same.


End file.
